Apparatus for applying pressure-sensitive labels to cylindrical articles



3,446,690 ELS Sheet.

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G. K. CHARLES PLYING PRESSURE- APPARATUS FOR AP SENSITIVE LAB TOCYLINDRICAL ARTICLES Filed Oct. 22, 1965 May 27, 1969 s. K. CHARLES3,446,690

FLYING PRESSURE-SENSITIVE LABELS TO CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES I SheetAPPARATUS FOR AP Filed Oct. 22, 1965 May 27, 1969 G. K. CHARLES3,446,690 APPARATUS FOR APPLYING PRESSURE-SENSITIVE LABELS T0CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES Filed Oct. 22, 1965 L 2 Fig.5.

M y 27, 1969 G. K. CHARLES 3,446,690

APPARATUS FOR APPLYING PRESSURE-SENSITIVE LABELS TO CYLINDRICAL ARTICLESFiled Oct. 22, 1965 Sheet 4 of 5 3,446,690 ITIVE LAB May 27, 1969 FlledOct 22 1965 G. K. CHARLES APPARATUS FOR APPLYING PRESSURE-SENS ELS TOCYLINDRICAL ARTICLES Sheet Fig.1].

I -ll Illl United States Patent 3,446,690 APPARATUS FOR APPLYINGPRESSURE-SENSI- TIVE LABELS TO CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES George K. Charles,Guildford, England, assiguor to Cow & Gate Limited, Guildford, EnglandFiled Oct. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 500,642 'Int. Cl. B65c 3/12, 9/02 US. Cl.156446 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates tothe application of pressuresensitive adhesivelabels to cylindricalarticles. a

The object of the invention is to provide an improved method andapparatus for applying a pressure-sensitive adhesive label tofacylindrical article in which the label is pressed evenly and firmlyaround the article, and which is particularly suitable for applyinglabels automatically to a plurality of articles in succession. Thelabels may be in the form of strips cut from a roll of tape, or thelabels may be mounted on a backing tape and detached in succession fromthe tape.

According to the invention there is provided a method of applying apressure-sensitive adhesive label to a cylindrical article, comprisingthe steps of locating the article between three parallel rollers, movingat least one of the rollers in a direction to clamp the article betweenthe three rollers with each roller making rolling engagement with thearticle, driving one of the rollers to rotate the article, and feedingan end of the label between the article and a roller with an adhesiveside of the label in contact with the article so that the label is woundon to the article during rotation thereof.

At least one of the rollers is preferably urged into an article clampingposition by resilient means, so that the clamping force between therollers and article remains substantially constant during rotation ofthe article, despite small irregularities in the diameter of thearticle.

The three rollers may be substantially horizontal with two of therollers spaced apart alongside one another and above the third roller.Withdrawal of the third roller after the label has been wound on to theatricle then permits the article to drop from between the two upperrollers.

According to the invention there is further provided apparatus forapplying pressure-sensitive adhesive labels to cylindrical articles bythe method set out above, comprising a substantially horizontal driveroller, a pressure roller arranged alongside and spaced from the driveroller, a support roller below the drive and pressure rollers, the

3,446,690 Patented May 27, 1969 three rollers being parallel to oneanother, means for moving the support roller substantially horizontallytowards and from a support position, means for moving the pressureroller substantially horizontally towards and from a clamping positionin which the three rollers, with the support roller in the supportposition, co-operate to clamp an article in rolling engagement withtherollers with the axis of the article below the plane containing theaxes of the pressure and drive rollers, means for feeding the articlesin succession into the space between the pressure and drive rollerswhereby each article is clamped between the three rollers upon movementof the pressure and support rollers into their clamping and supportpositions re spectively, means for rotating the drive roller and therebycause rotation of the article clamped between the rollers, and means forfeeding an end of a label between one of the rollers and the articlewith an adhesive side of the label in contact with the article so thatthe label is wound on to the article during rotation thereof, thearticle drop ping out from between the pressure and drive rollers uponmovement of the support roller out of its support position.

The labels are generally provided with printed matter for identifyingthe articles, but the labelsmay be plain where they are intended to beonly a protective covering to the articles.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation view of apparatus for applying labels inthe form of strips of heat-shrinkable pressure-sensitive adhesive tapeto cylindrical dry battery cells by the method according to theinvention.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a dry battery cell wrapped with alabel by the apparatus of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a cut-away view of part of the apparatus of FIGURE 1 showingthe tape being applied to a cell clamped between pressure, drive andsupport rollers.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of part of the mechanism for heatshrinking a label applied to a cell.

FIGURES 5-8 are diagrammatic views of the cell feeding mechanism and thepressure, drive and support rollers illustrating their movements duringone cycle of operating of the apparatus.

FIGURE 9 is a side elevation view of part of a modified construction ofthe apparatus of FIGURE 1, in which the tape feeding mechanism isreplaced by mechanism for feeding labels mounted on a backing tape.

FIGURE 10 is a side elevation view of part of another modifiedconstruction of the apparatus of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 11 is a plan view of the mechanism shown in FIGURE 10.

The apparatus illustrated in the drawings comprises a main frameconsisting of two vertical plates spaced apart by cross members, withthe mechanisms for handling the cells, guiding the tape, and applyingthe labels to the cells, mounted on the outside wall of one of thevertical plates indicated in the drawings by the reference numeral 10and hereinafter referred to for convenience as the support plate 10.Only the support plate 10 of the frame is illustrated in the drawings.The drive means for operating the mechanisms on the outside wall of thesupport plate 10 are mounted between the support plate 10 and the othervertical plate of the main frame and can be of any suitable constructionadapted to impart appropriate movements to the mechanisms on the supportplate as hereinafter described.

Referring to FIGURE 1, a magazine 11 for storing the cells 12 is mountedon the rear end of the support plate 10. The magazine 11 comprises twoside plates 13 spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the lengthof the cells 12, a vertical front plate 14, and a base plate 15 inclineddownwards and forwards. The side plate 13 remote from the support plateis formed of transparent insulating plastic material to prevent electricshort circuiting of the battery cells 12 through the walls of themagazine. The front end 16 of the base plate is turned verticallydownwards and is spaced from the front plate 14 to form a chute 17 forguiding the cells 12 in succession to a cell feeding mechanism. A bottomplate 19 rests on the base plate 15 of the magazine with the front endof the bottom plate 19 engaged in a recess formed by a bracket 20 on thebase plate 15, and a stop plate 21 on the rear wall of the front plate14 is arranged so that only one cell at a time can contact the frontplate 14 and be aligned with the chute 17. The base plate 15 is formedwith an aperture 22 for the passage of a pin 23 for raising and loweringthe bottom plate 19 a small distance during operation of the apparatus,to prevent jamming of the cells in the magazine.

The cell feeding mechanism is mounted below the magazine "and arrangedto receive cells from the lower end of the chute 17. The cell feedingmechanism comprises upper and lower slide blocks 26, 27 slidably mountedbetween a lower horizontal guide plate 28 secured to the support plate10 of the main frame and an upper horizontal guide plate 29 supported atits rear end on a bracket 30 on the chute 17 of the magazine. The lowerslide block 27 is fitted with two Lshaped brackets 31 (only one of whichis shown in FIGURE 1) each arranged with one leg 32 extending verticallyupwards and the other leg 33 extending horizontally forwards, the lowerends of the vertical legs 32 being secured to opposite sides of thelower slide block 27 and the horizontal legs 33 being positioned aboveand on opposite sides .of the upper guide plate 29. A pusher block 34 issecured between the rear ends of the two horizontal legs 33 of theLshaped brackets and a stop rod 35 extends between the front ends of thetwo horizontal legs 33, the pusher block 34, stop rod 35 and L- shapedbrackets 31 being arranged to accommodate a cell received from the lowerend of the chute 17. Two vertical guide plates 36 (only one of which isshown in FIGURE 1) are pivotally mounted at their rear ends on oppositeends of the stop rod 35, the front ends of the vertical guide plates 36extending forwardly and downwardly beyond the front ends of thehorizontal legs 33 of the Lshaped brackets. The vertical guide plate 36remote from the main frame is formed of insulating material. The otherguide plate 36 may be omitted if desired.

The front end of the upper slide block 26 is provided with two forwardlyprojecting lugs and a pressure roller 40 is rotatably mounted on ahorizontal transverse axle 41 extending between the two lugs on theupper slide block 26. The front end of the lower slide block 27 is alsoprovided with two forwardly projecting lugs and a support roller 42 isrotatably mounted on a horizontal transverse axle 43 extending betweenthe two lugs on the lower slide block 27.

The rear end of the upper slide block 26 is connected by a rod 44 and aresilient coupling 45 to a crank arm 46 on a rocker shaft 47 mounted ina bearing in the support plate 10 of the main frame. The rod 44 extendsthrough an aperture in the crank arm 46, and the resilient coupling 45comprises two annular rubber discs 48 mounted on the rod 44 on oppositesides of the crank arm 46 and clamped against the crank arm by nuts 49on the rod 44. Rocking movement of the rocker shaft 47 thus imparts ato-andfro movement to the upper slide block 26. The rear end of thelower slide block 27 is pivotally connected to one end of a connectingrod 52, therothernend of which is pivotally connected to a crank arm 53secured on a rocker shaft 54 mounted in a bearing in the support plate10 of the main frame, so that rocking movement of the rocker shaft 54imparts a to-and-fro movement to the lower slide block 27. A furthercrank arm 55 on the rocker shaft 54 carries the pin 23 arranged to passthrough the aperture 22 in the base plate 15 of the magazine and raiseand lower the bottom plate 19 of the magazine upon rocking movement ofthe rocker shaft 54. Rocking movement is imparted to the two rockershafts 47, 54 by a suitable power driven cam mechanism 56 mountedbetween the two vertical plates of the main frame, and operable to rocklevers 57, 58 secured to the rocker shafts 47, 54, respectively.

A spring steel strip 62 is secured to the bottom surface of the lowerguide plate 28, the steel strip extending forwardly beyond the front endof the lower guide plate 28 for a purpose to be explained hereinafter.

A drive roller 63 is positioned to the front of the pressure roller 40on the upper slide block 26 and arranged so that the pressure roller 40can clamp a cell against the drive roller 63 and support roller 42 whenthe upper slide block is in its forward position. The drive roller 63 issecured on a horizontal transverse axle 64 rotatably mounted in abearing in the support plate 10, and comprises an inner cylindrical core65 and an outer sleeve 66 of resilient material, for example, rubber,bonded to the inner core 65. The axle 64 is drivably con nected by abelt and pulley drive 59 to a motor 60 mounted between the two verticalplates of the main frame.

A tape arm 67 is positioned to the front of the magazine 11 and ismovable to feed an end of a tape 68 towards a cell clamped between thepressure, support and drive rollers 40, 42, 63. The tape arm 67comprises two spaced apart levers 69 (only one of which is shown inFIGURE 1) each having a bifurcated end clamped by a bolt 70 to a rockershaft 71 mounted in a bearing in the support plate 10 of the main frame,the two levers 69 extending upwardly and rearwardly above the driveroller 63, two side plates 72 secured one on each of the rear ends ofthe levers 69, the two side plates being of elongated form andprojecting above and below the rear ends of the levers 69, a cross bar73 extending between the upper ends of the two side plates 72, and across bar 74 extending between the lower ends of the two side plates 72.A tape guide roller 75 is rotatably mounted on the rocker shaft 71between the two levers 69, and a further guide roller 76 is rotatablymounted on an axle 77 extending between the rear ends of the two levers69. A downwardly projecting spring steel finger 78 is secured on thecross bar 73 and has its lower end engaged against a rearwardly facingflat on the cross bar 74, and a further spring steel finger 80 on thelower end of finger 78 projects below the cross bar 74 and has aninturned tip 81 aligned with the fiat on the cross bar 74. Rockingmovement is imparted to the tape arm 67 by a lever 82 secured to therocker shaft 71 and having an end thereof engaging a cam of the cammechanism 56. If desired, the tape arm 67 may be constructed with onlyone lever 69.

The tape 68 is stored on a spool 85 rotatably mounted on a transversespindle secured on the support plate 10 above the tape arm 67. The tapehas a width slightly greater than the length of the cells 12. The insidesurface of the tape on the spool 85 is coated with a pressure-sensitiveadhesive, and successive lengths of the tape are printed on the outsidesurface with labelling matter. The tape from the spool 85 is led insuccession around guide rollers 87, 88, 89 rotatably mounted on spindlesfixed to the support plate 10, a guide roller 90 rotatably mounted on anadjuster device 91 on the support plate, the guide roller 75 on therocker shaft 71 of the tape arm 67, the guide roller 76, and between thelower end of the spring finger 78 and the fiat on the cross bar 74,

the end of the tape projecting downwards from the cross bar 74. The tapeis arranged so that it passes around the lower surface of guide roller75 and over the upper surface of guide roller 76, with the adhesive sideof the end of the tape facing rearwards and adhering to the tip 81 offinger 80. The finger 80 thus prevents the end of the tape curlingupwards. The spring finger 78 holds the tape against the flat on thecross bar 74, but permits the tape to be drawn over the cross bar 74when the tape arm 67 is swung upwards with the end of the tape clampedagainst a cell to be wrapped.

The adjuster device 91 comprises a base plate (not shown) fitted withupper and lower horizontal guide bars 92, a slide block 93 axiallymovable between the guide bars 92, a cross bar 94 locating the slideblock 93 in position between the guide bars 92, an end plate 95extending across the front ends of the guide bars 92, and a screwthreaded rod 96 extending through an aperture in the end plate 95. Therear end of the rod 96 is engaged in a screw threaded aperture in thefront end of the slide block 93, and the front end of the rod 96 isprovided with a knurled knob 97. Axial movement of the rod 96 isprevented by a nut 98 on the rod at the rear of the end plate 95, sothat rotation of the knob 97 in opposite directions screws the rod 96into and out of the aperture in the slide block 93 and thus effectsforwards and rearwards movement of the slide block 93. The guide roller90 is rotatably mounted on a spindle on the rear end of the slide block93, and can thus be moved forwards or rearwards by adjustment of theknob 97 to vary the length of tape between the spool 85 and the tape arm67.

A cutter unit is mounted on the support plate to the front of the driveroller 63 and below the tape arm 67. The cutter unit comprises a baseplate 105 secured to the support plate 10, an electric solenoid havingthe coil 106 thereof mounted on the base plate 105, a cutter frame 107secured to the armature 108 of the solenoid for movement therewith, anda blade 109 projecting from the rear end of the cutter frame 107. Thecutter frame is movable rearwardly by the solenoid to a position inwhich the blade 109 will cut tape extending between the rear of thedrive roller 63 and the tip of finger 80 on the tape arm 67. A spring110 has one end secured to the cutter frame 107 and its other endsecured to a stud 111 on the support plate to the front of the cutterunit, the spring retracting the cutter frame 107 and blade 109 when thesolenoid is de-energised.

The solenoid of the cutter unit is energised by a circuit controlled bya photo-electric scanning head 112 mounted on the support plate 10immediately in front of the guide roller 88. The scanning head isarranged to scan a plain margin of the tape provided with identifyingmarks of a different colour to that of the margin at intervalscorresponding to the successive lengths of tape provided with thelabelling matter. The scanning head 112 is energised by closure of aswitch controlled by an operating element of the apparatus, for example,a cam of the cam mechanism 56, immediately prior to the passage of eachidentifying mark past the scanning head, and when the mark is inregister with the scanning head, the head triggers the circuitenergising the solenoid of the cutter unit. The operation of thesolenoid of the cutter unit is synchronised with movement of successivelengths of tape past the cutter block by adjustment of the adjusterdevice 91 to vary the length of tape between the scanning head and thetape arm 67.

An endless conveyor 115 and a heating chamber 116 are mounted on thesupport plate 10 below the drive roller 63 and tape arm 67. The conveyorcomprises two endless chains 117 each mounted on front and rearsprockets 118, 119 driven by the motor 60, the two chains extendingthrough the heating chamber 116. The heating chamber is provided withtwo elongated electric heating elements 120 arranged one on each side ofthe upper run of the conveyor.

An operating cycle of the apparatus of FIGURE 1 will now be described.

At the start of the cycle, the components are in the position shown inFIGURES 1 and 5, in which the upper and lower slide blocks 26, 27 are intheir rear positions, a cell 12 from the chute 17 is supported on theupper guide plate 29 between the pusher block 34 and the stop rod 35,the tape arm 67 is in its fully raised position with a free end of thetape 68 hanging downwards below the tip of finger 80, the cutter frame107 is in its forward inoperative position, and the drive roller 63,rotating continuously in an anti-clockwise direction as viewed in FIGURE1.

The lower slide block 27 is first moved forwards by movement of itsrocker shaft 54 so that the support roller 42 on the front end of thelower slide block 27 moves to a support position between and below thepressure roller 40 and drive roller 63. The two L-shaped brackets 31 onthe lower block 27 are thus also moved forwards and the pusher block 34pushes the cell off the front end of the upper guide plate 29, so thatthe cell rolls over the pressure roller 40 and drops down into thepocket formed between the pressure, drive and support rollers 40, 63, 42as shown in FIGURE 6. The cell is guided into the pocket by the twovertical guide plates 36 on the stop rod 35. The cell is supported inthe pocket by the support roller 42, and the support roller is arrangedso that the axis of the cell is below the axes of the pressure roller 40and drive roller 63.

During its forward movement, the pusher block 34 passes below the lowerend of the chute 17 and prevents the next succeeding cell in the chutefrom dropping on to the upper guide plate 29.

After the cell is in position in the pocket, the rocker shaft 47 movesthe upper slide block 26 forwards and the pressure roller 40 on theupper slide block 26 forces the cell against the drive roller 63 and thesupport roller 42, as shown in FIGURE 7. The resilient coupling 45enables slight variations in cell diameter or surface irregularities tobe accommodated without manual adjustment being required. The rotationalmovement of the drive roller 63 causes rotation of the cell, which inturn causes rotation of the pressure roller 40 and the support roller42.

The rocker shaft 71 then swings the tape arm 67 downwards so that thefree end of the tape enters the nip between the drive roller 63 and thecell (FIGURE 3), with the adhesive side of the tape facing towards thecell, and the rotational movement of the drive roller 63 and cell trapsthe free end of the tape therebetween. The rocker shaft 71 then swingsthe tape arm 67 upwards so that the tape is drawn from between thefinger 78 and crossbar 74 on the tape arm and over the guide rollers.

When a portion of tape having an identifying mark in the margin passesthe scanning head 112 which has previously been energised by the cammechanism closing a switch in its circuit, the scanning head triggersthe circuit energising the solenoid of the cutter unit and the cutterframe 107 and blade 109 are moved rearwards to sever the tape extendingbetween the cell and the finger 80. After the tape is severed, the tapearm 67 is swung by its rocker shaft 71 into its fully raised position,and when the identifying mark on the tape opposite the scanning headmoves past the head, the circuit for the solenoid is de-energised andcutter frame 107 is moved forwards by its return spring 110 to itsinoperative position.

During the downward movement of the tape arm 67, the tape between thetwo guide rollers 75, 76 is slack since the tape passes around theroller in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the tapearm. Thus, the tape is drawn past the scanning head only after the tapehas been trapped between the cell and drive roller 63 and the tape armis moving upwards. This arrangement has the advantage of ensuring that,when the identifying mark on the tape passes the scanning head and thesolenoid of the cutter unit is energised, the tape is taut between thecell and the tape arm and the blade makes a clean cut in the tape.

The length of tape cut by the blade is wrapped around the cell by therotational movement of the cell, the support roller 42 and the pressureroller 40 assisting in pressing the length of tape evenly and firmlyagainst the cell. Since the tape is wider than the length of the cell,the edges of the tape on the cell project beyond the ends of the cell.

After the wrapping operation is completed, the upper and lower slideblocks 26, 27, together with the pressure and support rollers 40, 42,are withdrawn rearwardly by.

their rocker shafts and the wrapped cell rolls off the support roller 42and drops on to the spring steel strip 62. The wrapped cell rolls alongthe strip 62 and into contact with the lower surface of the drive roller63 which then rolls the cell off the end of the spring strip 62 (FIGURE8) and on to the front end of the conveyor 115. Since the distancebetween the front end of the spring strip 62 and the drive roller 63 isless than the diameter of the cell, the strip 62 is deflected downwards,when the cell passes between the strip and drive roller, and urges thecell against the drive roller. This has the effect of accuratelylocating the cell on the conveyor. The conveyor then carries the cellthrough the heating chamber 116, the heat in which shrinks theprojecting edges of the tape so that it curls inwards and overlies theouter margins of the end walls of the cell, as shown in FIGURE 2.

Upon rearward movement of the lower slide block 27, the pusher block 34uncovers the lower end of the chute 17 and another cell drops on to theupper guide plate 29. The apparatus is then set for a further cycle ofoperation.

The cam mechanism for imparting rocking movement to the various rockershafts has not been illustrated in detail, but can be of any suitableconstruction in which the movements of the rocker shafts aresynchronised to provide the necessary sequence of movements of the slideblocks and tape arm. The cam mechanism is preferably driven by the motor60.

In a modified form of the apparatus of FIGURE 1, the tape feedingmechanism and cutter unit are replaced by a mechanism for feedingindividual die-cut labels to the cells to be Wrapped, as illustrated inFIGURE 9. This modified form of the apparatus comprises a magazine forthe cells, mechanism for feeding the cells in succession betweenpressure, drive and support rollers and rotating each cell between therollers, a conveyor and a heating chamber, all as previously describedwith reference to FIGURE 1, and only those parts of the apparatusnecessary to illustrate the operation and location of the die-cut labelfeeding mechanism is shown in FIGURE 9.

The label feeding mechanism of FIGURE 9 comprises a vertical blade 130secured to the support plate with its front surface substantiallytangential to the rear of the drive roller 63 and its lower end 131terminating close to the drive roller 63, a capstan 132 arranged abovethe blade 130 with the rear face of the blade substantially tangentialto the rear of the capstan, a roller 133 above the capstan and urged bya spring into rolling contact with the capstan, and a guide roller 134to the rear of roller 133.

- The die-cut labels 135 are spaced apart along the outside surface of abacking tape 136 stored on a spool 137 rotatably mounted on a spindle onthe support plate 10, the backing tape extending down the front surfaceof the blade 130, around the lower end 131 of the blade, up the rearsurface of the blade 130, between the capstan 132 and roller 133, andaround the underside of the guide roller 134, and the backing tape isthen wound on to a rewind spool 139 secured on a spindle rotatablymounted in the support plate 10. The backing tape is fed from spool 137to the rewind spool 139 by the capstan which is driven by a motorthrough a magnetic clutch (not shown). The rewind spool 139 is driventhrough a slipping clutch.

The labels are cut from heat-shrinkable material having apressure-sensitive adhesive coated on one side and labelling matterprinted on the other side. The adhesive side of the labels adhereslightly to the outside surface of the backing tape on the spool 137, sothat the labels are on the front surface of the length of backing tapepassing down the front of the blade 130. When the leading end of eachlabel reaches the bottom of the blade, the portion of backing tape towhich it adheres passes around the lower end of the blade, and the labelpeels off the backing strip and is fed into the nip between the drivingroller 63 and a cell clamped between the pressure, drive and supportrollers 40, 63, 42.

A scanning head 141 is mounted on the support plate 10 and arranged toscan the labels on the backing tape. The scanning head is connected inan electric circuit with the magnetic clutch for transmitting drive tothe capstan and with a switch operated by a cam of the cam mechanism 56once in each cycle of operation of the apparatus. The circuit isarranged so that operation of the switch engages the magnetic clutch forthe capstan and also resets the scanning head. The capstan then feedsthe tape from the spool 137 to the spool 139, and when the scannininghead reads the full passage of a label, it transmits a signal whichde-energises the magnetic clutch and stops the feed of the tape.

In a further modified form of the apparatus of FIG- URE 1, the pusherblock of the cell feeding mechanism is omitted and the pressure roller40 performs the function of the pusher block in feeding the cells insuccession from the magazine into engagement with the drive and supportrollers 63, 42 as illustrated in FIGURES 10 and 11.

The mechanism of FIGURES l0 and 11 comprises an upper slide whichreplaces the slide block 26 of the arrangement of FIGURE 1 and a lowerslide 151 which replaces the slide block 27, the slide 150 being mountedon the slide 151 and the two slides being mounted between two guideplates in a similar manner to the mounting of the slide blocks 26, 27 inFIGURE 1. The rear end of the slide 150 is connected to the rod 44 andaxially movable by rocking movement of the rocker shaft 47, and the rearend of the slide 151 is connected to the connecting rod 52 and axiallymovable by rocking movement of the rocker shaft 54. In this modifiedform of the apparatus, the position of the magazine 11 is arranged sothat the lower end of the chute 17 is directly above the front end ofthe upper slide 150.

The upper slide 150 comprises two vertical side plates 152 and ahorizontal bridge plate 153 extending between the upper edges of theside plates with the front edge of the bridge plate 153 spaced to therear of the front edges of the side plates. The pressure roller 40 isrotatably mounted on the axle 41 which extends between the two sideplates 152, the periphery of the pressure roller being close to thefront edge of the bridge plate 153, and a disc 154 of insulatingmaterial is mounted on the inner end of a stud 155 screwed in anaperture in the side plate 153 remote from the support plate 10 of themain frame of the apparatus, the disc being positioned immediately infront of the pressure roller. The spacing between the insulating disc154 and the side plate 153 adjacent the support plate 10 is adjustableby screwing the stud 155 in or out of the aperture in the other sideplate. The stud 155 is secured in position by a lock nut 156.

The lower slide 151 comprises two vertical side plates and a bridgeplate 161 extending between the upper edges of the side plates with thefront edge of the bridge plate 161 spaced to the rear of the front edgesof the side plates 160. The support roller 42 is rotatably mounted onthe axle 43 which extends between the side plates 160. with theperiphery of the support roller close to the front edge of the bridgeplate 161.

At the start of an operating cycle of the apparatus modified as shown inFIGURES and 11, the slides 150, 151 are in their rear positions as shownin FIGURE 10, in which the pressure roller 40 is at the rear of thechute 17 and a cell 12 from the chute is resting upon the bridge plate161 of the lower slide 151, the cell being immediately in front of thepressure roller and aligned with the insulating disc 154. The insulatingdisc 154 prevents short-circuiting of the cell across the slide 150 andhas previously been set, by adjustment of the stud 155, so that the cellis a loose fit between the disc 154 and the side plate 152 adjacent thesupport plate 10.

The upper and lower slides 150, 151 are moved simultaneously by rockingmovement of the rocker shafts 47, 54 so that the support roller 42 onslide 151 is moved into its support position (shown in broken lines inFIGURE 10) and the pressure roller 40 propels the cell 12 along thebridge plate 161 of the lower slide and on to the support roller 42.During this forward movement of the upper slide 150, the bridge plate153 passes below and seals off the lower end of the chute -17 with thecells in the chute resting on the bridge plate 153. When the upper slide150 is in its fully forward position, the pressure roller 40 is in theposition shown in broken lines in FIGURE 10 and clamps the cell againstthe drive roller 63 and support roller 42, the axis of the cell beingbelow the plane passing through the axes of the pressure roller 40 anddrive roller 63. Rotation of the drive roller 63 then causes rotation ofthe cell and the pressure and support rollers 40, 42, and a label is fedbetween the cell and the drive roller 63 by the feeding mechanismillustrated in FIGURE 1 or FIGURE 9. When the label has been wrappedaround the cell, the upper and lower slides 150, 151 are with drawn totheir rear positions and the wrapped cell drops down on to the springsteel strip 62 shown in FIGURE 1. Upon movement of the bridge plate 153of the upper slide 150 to the rear of the chute 17, the next succeedingcell drops from the chute on to the bridge plate 161 and is wrapped witha label in the next operating cycle of the apparatus.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for applying a pressure-sensitive adhesive label to acylindrical article, comprising three parallel rollers arranged toreceive the article therebetween, means for feeding the article intothespace between the rollers, means for moving one of the rollers in adirection to clamp the article therebetween, means rotating one of therollers and thereby cause rotation of the article cl-amped between therollers, and means for feeding an end of the label between a roller andthe article with an adhesive side of the label in contact with thearticle so that the label is wound on to the article during rotationthereof.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including resilient means urging oneof said rollers towards a clamping position, whereby the clamping forcebetween the rollers and article remains substantially constant duringrotation of the article, despite small irregularities in the diameter ofthe article.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the three rollers aresubstantially horizontal with two of the rollers positioned above thethird roller, one of the upper rollers being movable to clamp thearticle between the three rollers,'and the third roller being movablefrom a support position in which the three rollers co-operate to receivethe article therebetween and a release position in which the article isfree to drop from between the two upper rollers.

4. Apparatus for applying pressure-sensitive adhesive labels tocylindrical articles comprising a substantially horizontal drive roller,a pressure roller arranged alongside and spaced from the drive roller, asupport roller below the drive and pressure rollers, the three rollersbeing parallel to one another, means for moving the support rollersubstantially horizontally towards and from a support position, meansfor moving the pressure roller substantially horizontally towards andfrom a clamping position in which the three rollers, with the supportroller in the support position, co-operate to clamp an article inrolling engagement with the rollers with the axis of the article belowthe plane containing the axes of the pressure and drive rollers, meansfor feeding the articles in succes sion into the space between thepressure and drive rollers whereby each article is clamped between thethree rollers upon movement of the pressure and support rollers intotheir clamping and support positions respectively, means for rotatingthe drive roller and thereby causing rotation of the article clampedbetween the rollers, andmeans for feeding an end of a label between oneof the rollers, and means for feeding an end of a label between one ofthe rollers and the article with an adhesive side of the label incontact with the article so that the label is wound on to the articleduring rotation thereof, the article dropping out from between thepressure and drive rollers upon movement of the support roller out ofits support position.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein the support roller isrotatably mounted on a slide, and the article feeding means comprises achute and a pusher element forming a gate to the chute, the pusherelement being fitted to the slide and arranged to release an articlefrom the chute upon movement of the slide in a direction to move thesupport roller out of its support position, and to push the article overthe pressure roller and between the pressure and drive rollers uponmovement of the slide in a direction to locate the support roller in itssupport position.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein the article feeding meanscomprises a chute and a slide forming a gate for the chute, the slidebeing movable towards and from the drive roller and the pressure rollerbeing rotatably mounted on the slide, the slide and pressure roller being arranged so that movement of the slide away from the drive rollerreleases an article from the chute into the space between the pressureroller and the drive roller, and movement of the slide towards the driveroller causes the pressure roller to push the article into engagementwith the drive and support rollers.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein the means for moving thepressure roller into its clamping position includes a resilient couplingtransmitting the clamping force to the pressure roller, the resilienceof the coupling permitting small translational movements of the pressureroller to accommodate variations in the diameter of the article withoutappreciably altering the clamping force.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, including a cantilever resilientstrip disposed below the support roller when in its support position andhaving a free end projecting below the drive roller from the sidethereof adjacent the pressure roller, the free end of the strip in anunstressed condition being spaced below the drive roller at a distanceless than the diameter of the article, whereby the article drops on tothe strip upon withdrawal of the support roller from its supportposition and the drive roller rolls the article off the free end of thestrip to a receiving station.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, and suitable for applying labels inthe form of strips cut from a roll of tape, wherein the label feedingmeans comprises a tape anm pivotally mounted on the frame of theapparatus, gripper means mounted on the distal end of the tape arm andadapted to grip the tape with an end portion thereof projecting from thetape arm, and gripper means permitting the tape to be drawn therethroughagainst the resistance due to its gripping action, and means for rockingthe tape arm towards and from an operative position in which the freeend of the tape is inserted between the drive roller and an articleclamped between the three rollers, the apparatus including a cutterdevice for cutting the tape between the gripper means and the articleafter the tape has been inserted between the drive roller and thearticle, the strip cut from the tape forming the label.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9, including tape 1 1 guide meansguiding tape from a spool to the gripper means on the tape arm, the tapeguide means including a roller rotatably mounted about the pivot axis ofthe tape arm and arranged so that the tape passes around the roller in adirection opposite to the direction of rotation of the tape arm uponmovement into its operative position.

'11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein the tape arm is providedwith a finger arranged so that its tip engages the adhesive side of theend portion of the tape projecting from the gripper means at a pointspaced from the gripper means, whereby the end portion of the tapeadheres to the finger tip and is thus located in a predeterminedposition relative to the tape anrn.

12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein the label feeding meanscomprises a blade mounted on the frame of the apparatus and having anend thereof directed towards the space between the three rollers, andmeans operable to pass around said end of the blade a backing strip hav-References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,253,973 5/1966 Anderberg et al.l56-446 XR 2,199,033 4/1940 Strauss 156446 XR 2,585,250 2/1952 Jones etal. 156-449 PHILIP DIER, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

